Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tiso had always known that Quirrel was weird and that his family was weird, he knew that Quirrel had a weird family, seeing as he was a… Well, he doesn’t know exactly what he is, but he knows that Quirrel and his mother, Monomon the jellyfish, aren’t actually related. He assumed that Monomon’s death would make Quirrel an orphan… but… here he is, in Deepnest of all places, holding Quirrel’s hand so tightly that if he wasn’t terrified of being MURDERED by an evil denizen of Deepnest, he would be worried about breaking Quirrel’s hand.

And yet, the archaic bastard had a huge smile across his face, walking in a slow pace with all the calm in the world as if he wasn’t in what was definitely the most dangerous place in the Kingdom. “Worry not, my friend. I know meeting one's partner’s parents can be nerve wracking, but she won’t bite! At least, she shouldn’t bite. It’ll be fine, you can relax a bit.” Quirrel said, as if Tiso’s anxieties were about meeting Quirrel’s actual mom and not about the hellish tunnels that they currently travelled through.

Quirrel’s words made him flinch, snapping him out of his focus. “I’m not anxious, Quirrel. I am completely calm! I am simply on edge, and worried that one of these feral creatures could hurt you. You didn’t even bring your blade!” Tiso whined, only getting a laugh from the possible pillbug, but judging by the bugs he’s seen down here… it's becoming increasingly obvious that Quirrel is likely not a pillbug. Oh gods… what the fuck is he about to meet? Some giant spider? A dirtcarver? A murderous centipede? His grip on his shield tightens just thinking about it.

“We’re almost there, just down this little drop and into this cavern, and she should be in here!” Quirrel says, jumping off of the ledge while still holding Quirrel’s hand, practically pulling Tiso off, but thankfully he manages to land on his feet. Quirrel is excited, and when he gets excited he tends to zone out and stop thinking about how not everyone is as incredibly durable as he is. Thankfully, Tiso is incredibly strong AND durable (And the giant crack in his shell is only slightly aching today)!

“So… Quirrel, your mother. She’s, like, not a giant monster, right?” He asks nervously after recovering from the short fall.

“Of course not, she's a normal bug. Oh mother! Mother, are you there?” He calls out, and Tiso is just beginning to calm down when a GIANT, INCREDIBLY LONG BUG SLITHERS OUT FROM A HOLE IN THE WALL!

“BY THE GODS! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!” Tiso screams, hiding behind his shield while Quirrel doesn’t as much as flinch. Instead he laughs, like a prick, and the giant monster’s circle mask splits in the middle, exposing the bugs jaws and large teeth, as it too laughs at his reaction.

“Have no fear, Tiso! It’s just my mother! Mom! I haven’t seen you in ages! How have you been?” Quirrel says with a wide smile, and the bug raps around him and pulls him into a sort of hug, before retracting and pressing what could be considered kisses upon his forehead.

The two halves of her mask reconnect. “Ah! Quirrel, my sunshine! You’ve finally returned! How was the Archives? How is the Princess? And who is this you’ve brought me? Have you finally returned to feed your poor, poor, starving mother?” The bug says, before laughing, a smile in her voice. Tiso feels his heart drop. Has all of this been a ruse? Their entire relationship? Almost a year of dating Tiso, of taking him on dates, all of it was to feed his mother? It all made sense now, and Tiso was already ready to make a run for it.

“No no! Tiso, please calm down, no one here is eating anyone! My mother makes the worst jokes, she and the Queen of Deepnest found these jokes funny. I promise, you’re safe.” Quirrel says in haste, hurrying to his boyfriend’s side to soothe him and his worries. Quirrel’s mom continues to laugh wildly, which does not help with Tiso’s rising anxieties.

“Fine! Fine! I will not eat him, I was only joking!” The long bug says.

“Thank you. Is that good, Tiso? My mother would never go against her word.” Quirrel explains, and although he isn’t calmed at all, he does feel safe enough to lower his shield, only because he’s close enough to the entrance of this place to make a run for it and not be caught. “My time at the Archives was splendid! I oh so greatly enjoyed it, and I learned so much! My teacher, Monomon, practically became my second mom! Thankfully the Princess, Hornet, is settling down for now, but she's still on the move, her little sibling has gone missing, and she is very desperate to find them. Oh! I’m so sorry I forgot to introduce him to you earlier! This is my lovely boyfriend, and future husband, Tiso the Conqueror!”

He waved nervously. He was hoping that Quirrel’s mom wouldn’t be… incredibly terrifying. She could probably kill him, or just bite him in half. Nerve wracking to say the least, he can see why Quirrel would have chosen her to be his mom. Wait… that's not how that works. While he’s still thinking about how motherhood works, the bug slithers closer to him, and then around him. “Are you sure this bug is a worthy mate for you? They don’t appear to be good at holding young… but they do seem to be petite enough.” His mom says, causing Tiso’s face to go red.

“I don’t believe we plan to have children at the moment, and I don’t know if Tiso would be capable of carrying young, but that isn’t on our minds at the moment. We were wondering if you would give him your blessing to marry me?” Quirrel explains. Tiso is thankful that he doesn’t have to speak because he’s so embarrassed he might squeak, which would be extremely embarrassing. And he’s glad he doesn’t have to ask this unnerving bug for her son’s hand in marriage. She cackles, only increasing his fear of her, before retreating back to her son.

“Feel no urge to have children to please me! Although I miss delivering eggs, helping them hatch, and raising young, I am satisfied with the work I have done throughout my life. I will absolutely give this small ant my blessing!” She says with a smile. “I haven’t left my cove in years! Too many dangerous bugs out there, but I can always make an exception for my little rolly polly.” She coos, splitting her mask open again to give Quirrel a kiss on his forehead. “Now hurry along now! Before I decide I’d have this bug as a snack rather than a son-in-law!” She says, hopefully a tease, and Tiso is all too quick to wave goodbye and pull Quirrel out of the room, and more importantly, hopefully out of the reach of his mom (in case she goes feral and seeks him out. He would prefer to not be eaten).

“Well that went well!” Quirrel says, a smile on his voice. He nods, because he is too scared to speak in earshot of Quirrel’s mom. Tiso pulls his future husband away from the entrance to the cavern and out of sight until they’re both hidden.

“Sorry, I need to make sure she doesn’t hear us. Okay! First thing, um… What are you exactly? She said you’re a rolly polly but… if she’s your mom then you obviously aren’t? Are you adopted? You don’t look anything like her!” Tiso rambles. “Like, you don’t even have that mask, split thing that she has!”

The last thing Tiso wanted to happen was for him to be proved wrong, but alas, Quirrel proves him wrong by splitting his mask and showing off his large smile and his two rows of sharp, beast-like teeth. Tiso nearly screams, but he manages not to. “O-oh… um. Well that is certainly… something. Uh. Is this why we’ve never kissed?” He asks skittishly.

“Of course not! I had no fears that you wouldn’t love me regardless of my species! But I knew that you’d get scared if I asked you if you wanted to kiss.” Quirrel explains, only getting an insulted yelp from Tiso. Quirrel laughs, keeping his mask open and his true species revealed. “Well, since it wasn’t your fear keeping you from kissing me, then why don’t we kiss right now, hm? Before we head back to Dirtmouth and announce our marriage?” QUirrel taunts, making Tiso’s face go red again. He mumbles something, but before Quirrel can ask what he said, the ant practically lunges forward, smashing his face against Quirrel’s and kissing him almost harshly. Quirrel kisses back, of course.

Their kiss only ends when they must part for air, and Tiso’s bright red face is something Quirrel will remember for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, their intimate moment is cut short when something hard smashes into the back of Quirrel’s head, knocking him to the ground. When he manages to look up, he sees Tiso face down on the floor, his body rigid and still, a noticeable injury on his head. He’s lifted off of the ground and flipped over, forced to face a large bug wielding a club. “Oh yes,” The bug says with a smile. “You’ll do perfectly.”

Chapter Text

The first thing Tiso felt as he awoke was an intense, splitting pain on the top of his head. It honestly might be worse than his scar from the Coliseum. He gasps, attempting to pull himself to his feet, only to feel a calloused hand press against his chest and push him down. “Be still.” A familiar voice says. It’s Hornet, no way he could forget Hornet’s voice. “I’ve wasted enough time bandaging your injuries, I would not do it again if you mess them up.” She says. He rubs his eyes until his vision clears enough to see the incredibly tired spider princess before him.

They were in Hornet and Hollow’s house, though it sat empty on most days as Hornet would be out looking for Ghost, and Hollow would be staying at Iselda and Cornifer’s shop. He looked around the room, careful not to move his head too fast. Hollow doesn’t appear to be here. Even when they have someone else to look after them, they still prefer to be in Iselda and Cornifer’s company. He hears the distinct sound of someone fiddling with something and his head shoots back to look at Hornet. Oh shit… gods dammit, that hurt a lot. After flipping through the keys for a moment, she unlocked a medicine cabinet, pulling out one of the many half empty bottles of lifeblood. Without even asking for permission, she pries Tiso’s mouth open and, using a strange, almost paintbrush-like tool, slathers the blue goo all around the inside of his mouth. It’s bitter and gross, but he manages to not spit it out (with the help of Hornet holding his mouth shut, of course). “For the pain. It’ll numb your whole head. If that isn’t enough for you, I have some red centipede venom. You won’t be able to feel your head at all.” She explains

“Ugh… you look like shit, probably as bad as me.” He mumbles. The bright glow of the lunafly makes his head hurt, but he pushes through it to pull himself to a sitting position. “Where’s Quirrel?” He asks, his mind still in such a haze that he can’t remember what happened.

“He’s your boyfriend, I would expect that you could look after him.” Hornet hisses, before maybe realizing how cruel she’s being. “I didn’t see him, and despite having a crack on your head, you were safe, so I would assume he wandered off somewhere. If anyone knows where he is, it would be you.” She says, taking a spoonful of lifeblood and downing it before cleaning off her utensils with her mouth parts and returning them all to their correct positions (and thankfully she washes the spoon and brush before putting them back. Despite what Quirrel has said, he highly doubts his mouth tastes that good).

“I… I don’t know what happened, I remember meeting Quirrel’s mom… and then we kissed, and he…” he explained, before suddenly managing to piece the pieces of his memory together. “Oh fuck! Holy fuck they stole Quirrel!” He practically screams, jumping to his feet and attempting to run for the door. He trips after the first two steps, though, landing on the ground with a rather painful thump.

“What do you mean? Who stole him?” Hornet asks, suddenly very interested in Tiso’s plight (though it might be because he just fucked up all of her handiwork on his bandages).

“I… a big beetle! I remember seeing a huge beetle. He was carrying a club and he… he must’ve snuck up on us while we were kissing! He knocked Quirrel out and then he came for me! They took Quirrel! Someone stole him!” Tiso panics, running for the door like he’s going to be able to chase down Quirrel’s kidnappers.

“Tiso. Stop moving quickly, you’ll make your head injury worse.” Hornet orders. “Do you have any leads to where he could have been taken? Any other witnesses?” She asks.

He’s panicking so hard he barely understands her question. “They… I… I don’t remember, but! But there might be clues at the scene! Did you see any?” Tiso asks, shaking his hands anxiously in some fruitless attempt to get rid of some of his stress.

Hornet grabs her needle and slings it over her back, before grabbing another bottle of lifeblood that was just laying out (by the gods, how many bottles of lifeblood does she have?), and unlocking the door to her house. “I wasn’t looking for clues, I was trying to get your dumbass out of Deepnest before a beast took you for a meal. You were in front of the Midwife’s home, and if we’re lucky the scene will still be untouched.” She explains. “Get your ass off the floor and let’s go. Time is limited, and I don’t have any to waste.” She orders and he does indeed rush to his feet.

He hopes Quirrel is okay. He hopes whatever happened was just some funny misunderstanding but the anxiety rushing through him lets him know that it is going to be so much worse than that. He can only hope he finds Quirrel before it’s too late.

Chapter Text

The journey to Midwife’s den was quick and uncareful. Tiso was agitated and scared, and so incredibly uncautious that Hornet needed to move ahead of him to make sure no bugs or pitfalls could end him, while simultaneously keeping an eye on him in case some Dirtcarver or a Lesser Weaver decided to make a dinner out of the fool. He was beginning to make her agitated, but beneath the frustration and the overstimulation she understood his panic. When the White Palace had disappeared she had panicked just as hard, running through the ruins in a frenzy as she tried to find her father… and then finding nothing… not even a note or an explanation or a sign that he had ever been there.

She snaps herself out of her thoughts just in time to dash forward and grab Tiso by the hood, saving him from certain death at the hands of a pitfall. “Slow down. You’ll get yourself killed.” Hornet hissed, yanking him backwards and onto safer land.

“There is no way in hell I’m slowing down, my… Quirrel is out there, in danger and likely terrified, more terrified than me. We need to find him as soon as possible.” Tiso rambled as he continues to not only not calm down, but also speed up in his running. Hornet growled to herself and increased her pace as well. Only a bit farther and they’ll get to the Midwife’s abode, and then a small bit further and they’ll find the scene of the crime.

With a few careful jumps from her, and Tiso’s less careful leaps, they made it, a puddle of blood where Tiso’s head was cracked open, and half soaked in the blood laid a bandana. Tiso hurriedly picked it up, showing it to Hornet. “This is his! This is his bandana! His antenna are super sensitive, he’d never leave this behind!” Tiso explained before shoving it into Hornet’s hands and continuing his search.

She groaned to herself, tired of searching for missing people, tired of not knowing where the people she was supposed to protect had gone. She gripped the bandana in her fist and scratched at a wound on her side, before realizing something strange. “Tiso.” She called out, getting the fool’s attention.

“Did you find something? More clues?” He asked, frantically hurrying back to Hornet.

“Did Quirrel ever tell you where he got this cloth from?” She asks.

“Yes, of course. His mom made it for him when he was just a hatchling.” Tiso explained. She nods, before opening her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Tiso. “She knitted it when he was, like, three. He said that it was originally black to blend in with the darkness of Deepnest but he dyed it blue after a while because he—“

“Shut up. This fabric wasn’t made in Hallownest, nor is it fancy or of celebrity quality, so it hasn’t been imported from the Wastes. If Quirrel’s mom made this, then she might be able to provide us with some knowledge on where she came from, and that could provide us with a motivation for the kidnapping.” Hornet explains. Hell yeah, she thinks to herself. She’s just as cool as those detectives in the moldy books she found in the Capital. Detective Hornet, on the case… yeah, she likes the sound of that (she ignores the fact that she’s been searching for Little Ghost for weeks now and still hasn’t found them. That isn’t something to think about right now). Tiso closes his mouth and nods, before running off to (hopefully) lead the way to Quirrel’s mom.

——

The run isn’t long, and she’s surprised to find herself at the Midwife’s den. For a horrible moment, she contemplated if Quirrel’s mom is still alive, or if she’s one of the unfortunate victims to the Midwife’s lies and lures. “Quirrel’s mom!” Tiso screams as they enter. “Come out!” Oh. So… wait… Quirrel is the Midwife’s son? Didn’t her mother and the Midwife date at some point? Is Quirrel technically her brother?!?

Her thoughts are cut off when the Midwife slithers out to greet them. “Ahh, back again, I see. Perhaps here to offer me a snack this time?” She asks with a smile in her voice. Hornet begins to speak before Tiso once again cuts her off.

“No, no don’t you dare even try. It’s about Quirrel, he’s been kidnapped. Do you know where he is? Or who could have kidnapped him? Or why? Please, we need—“

“Let me talk. If what I am assuming is true, then you are Quirrel’s mother.” She says, interrupting Tiso. The Midwife nods, worry evident in her body language. Hornet pulls out the blood soaked bandana, holding it up to her. “We found this at the scene. It seems of high quality despite you not working for money. Where is this fabric from? And is there anyone who would have kidnapped Quirrel for it?” She asks.

The Midwife thinks for a moment, and then hisses, turning to Tiso. “You! He was with you! You let them kidnap him, didn’t you? You little… I’ll kill you!” She growls, lunging forward without warning, but thankfully Hornet is quick on her feet and managed to get between the two of them, jamming the blunt side of her blade into the Midwife’s mouth to prevent her from biting.

“Stop at once, Midwife. He is not responsible. He was nearly killed by their attackers, and with no one knowing his location, it would have been a foolish decision to fake the injuries. Besides, I checked his pockets for geo before tending to him, he wasn’t paid.” She explains, and almost instantly the Midwife returns to her worried, paranoid state.

“Dammit. I knew this would happen, I shouldn’t have let him go into the City…” she mutters to herself. “Our old kingdom must’ve come for us, that’s where I got the fabric for. They must’ve gone for him instead of me because he’s weaker… Gods dammit… I should have warned him.” She explains. Hornet nods while Tiso attempts to process the information, while also trying to process the fact that Hornet tried to rob him.

“Another Kingdom? Is that possible?” Hornet asks with mild interest heavy on her words. The Midwife nods. “Do you happen to know where it is? Are you certain these people took him?” She adds.

“I am certain. No other bugs would desire to steal us. Only the bugs of our home, Dalovuus, would have come this far out to steal him. I… I have a compass that always points to the Heart of the Kingdom.” Midwife explains, before slithering back into her hold in the wall, returning a moment later with a small, metal box in her claws. She tosses it to Tiso. “You must find him, please, before they destroy him. I cannot go, they expect me to follow, they’ll capture me with ease if I do not have the advantage. Please, small ant, save my son.” She begs.

Tiso picks up the compass and opens it, staring at the red tipped needle within. He nods. He’s going to find Quirrel, he’s going to save him.

Chapter Text

Quirrel drifted awake, the gentle bounce of a wagon threatening to lull him back to sleep. It almost reminded him of the times he passed out on the Trams, or on the Stags. He just needed to wait to be awoken by someone desperatey shaking him to tell him he missed every single stop. But… that wasn’t going to happen. Those artifacts of the past are gone.

Suddenly, through his fit of nostalgia, the memories of what happened before his consciousness was terminated rushed back to him. Where was he? The Trams and Stags were gone. Holy shit! Where was Tiso? Is he okay? Quirrel tried to jump up to his feet, or to move at all, but he found himself bound tightly by a metal rope of some sort. This darkness that enveloped him wasn’t natural, it was certainly the result of a blindfold of some sorts! Oh heavens! He had been kidnapped! He desperately started writhing in some hopes of loosening his restraints, of getting free and rushing home, but to no avail.

“Oh, it’s awake!” A gruff, but somewhat familiar voice laughed. He felt a large hand grab his face, and a moment later the cloth covering his eyes was torn away. This bug was the bug who had kidnapped him! He tried to say something, anything, but another cloth blocked his mouth. He tried to scream, to beg to be released, but the large bug only laughed.

“Stop taunting it, you moron.” The smaller bug at the front of the wagon hissed, slapping him across the head. She wore a large brimmed hat, and a tight cloak. Her face was covered by a bandana and a pair of goggles, leaving none of her save for the small bits of exposed gray shell, and her long, metal covered arms to be observed. “These things aren't to be toyed with. Their forms may be strong but their minds are weak. We don’t want to break it too early.” She whispered, but Quirrel still heard.

His mother had warned him of this, it had been a common tale among the citizens of Deepnest. Countless tales of children wandering off or staying out after dark, only to be snatched by evil bugs who wanted the young bugs for their abilities. But he doesn’t have a use! Unless they want to know how to write with acid, or how to read shorthand, or pretty much any information about Hallownest… alright maybe he was worth a bit more than he gave himself credit for.

And then he remembers Tiso again. He remembers watching the giant bug slam Tiso across the head with a giant club. Gods above. He hopes Tiso is safe. Safe and at home, and hopefully not doing anything stupid…

———

Tiso was about to do something stupid. Possibly stupid, he wasn’t quite sure. He hurried to Dirtmouth, the first time he had even entered the Crossroads since Quirrel pulled him from the Coliseum’s disposed-of entertainment. With a moment of preparations, including hyping himself up, he began dragging himself up the well’s chain, only falling once and landing on his butt, and eventually reached the mouth of Hallownest, dragging himself onto the surface. He yelled for the citizens, voice loud and nasally, and once all the bugs had at least left their homes, he announced Quirrel’s kidnapping, and his great quest to save him… to mixed reactions. Sly seemed almost bored to hear it (probably because he’s heard nothing but Zotes rambles of adventures and glorious battles and kidnapped princesses in need of saving since the short bug got here). Mostly everyone else seemed worried, though. But Hornet had decided to not stand beside him and provide support, so they probably all think he’s just crazy. Iselda and Cornifer whispered between each other, and he heard Sly say out loud that he was just another crazy bug who had managed to recover from the infection. That little..! He bought an egg from him before going down the well! How did he not remember him? Meanwhile, ElderBug looked downright horrified by this. He gripped the flower in his hand a little tighter. Zote was… well, still being Zote. At some point since he first descended down the well, they had banished Zote to the graveyard. Unfortunately for them, Zote had an outdoor voice that he hardly used. No matter how far away they sent him, they would always hear his rambles.

Finally, Hornet emerged from the well, and quickly made her way to Cornifer and Iselda’s home. ElderBug approached her and asked her a flurry of panicked questions, about if Tiso’s story was real and if they were all in danger. She took one tired look around the residents of Dirtmouth and let out a sigh. “Yes, it’s real. Curfew at dark.” Was all she said, before slipping inside and closing the door behind her. Well, ElderBug was definitely panicking now, and even Sly seemed a bit bothered. What if the kidnappers came back? How would they be able to defend themselves? Quirrel had been quite active within the surface community, protecting them and helping bugs ascending from Hallownest’s ruins, and with him gone the people of Dirtmouth no doubt felt like sitting baldurs.

Thankfully, there were some bugs brave enough to join him. Three bugs who stood and exclaimed that they wanted to help save Quirrel! And one of them was Zote…fuck. Two bugs! Two bugs who stood and exclaimed that they wanted to help save Quirrel (and could actually help)! He asked them to gather their goods and meet him by the well without really even giving them a look-over. To be honest, his head was really starting to hurt, and all the lights of Dirtmouth were only making it worse. Was Dirtmouth always this bright?

Maybe an hour later, a pair of bugs approached him. A tiny hallowbug, wearing a backpack almost larger than them and wielding a pickaxe, and a rather large cicada, who was also carrying a pack in one hand, and a club in the other. “Are you two… the two who said you’d help?” Tiso asked, almost hoping they’d say no, or say they were here for autographs. Maybe the cicada could prove to have some strength… but the hallowbug was small, weak, easily damaged.

“Yup! We’re both here to save Quirrel! My name’s Cloth, and this is my girlfriend Myla!” Cloth, the cicada, answered. Tiso sighed, rubbing his aching eyes, but before he could tell them his thoughts, the hallowbug interrupted.

“Mister, p-please. You must understand th-that Quirrel h-helped both of us recover after Hornet s-saved us from below. Please let us h-help.” Myla, the little hallowbug begged. Tiso simply nodded. Maybe it was his headache that made him not want to argue, or maybe it was how this little bug reminded him of himself when he was younger. So small, so desperate to prove themself.

“Fine.” He said, and both of the bugs gasped in surprise, before giving each other a high five. “But I must check with Hornet before we go. We’re going to need her help, and especially her needle.” He added. He fully expected Hornet to agree, to come with them and to make this rescue mission a piece of cake. What he hadn’t expected was that the next words he would say would be “What? What do you mean you aren’t coming? We need you!”

Hornet shook her head. She hadn’t even let him get a word out before telling him she wasn’t going to join him. “I must stay here, to make sure Hollow is safe, and to protect Dirtmouth and its residents.” She explained. At their name being mentioned, Hollow emerged from a pile of blankets, letting out a huff. Honestly this was the first time he had seen them, and Quirrel’s descriptions of them did not serve them justice. They were huge! And while he was distracted, looking at this goliath’s head, Hornet had already moved to close the door on them.

“Hey! Hornet! Please, we need you, Quirrel needs you. Please, I’m begging you.” He pleaded. Hornet stopped for a moment, squinting and staring at him through the small crack in the door.

“Tiso. I truly do wish to join you in finding him. Even before I knew he was my adoptive brother, he was like a brother to me. We grew up beside one another, and realizing he had lost his memories and his mind had been one of the most painful times for me. But I cannot abandon my largest sibling, nor can I cease my search for Ghost. I’m sorry. I will pray for you three.” She said, before closing the door in his face. He let out another tired sigh.

These two would have to do. After a quick trip to Sly’s shop to attempt and buy supplies, which proved to be a failure as Sly wouldn’t open his door for them, they headed past the civilization and up, then out to the howling winds. The sand whipped against their shells and their clothes, and with one last deep breath, the trio stepped past the markers of Hallownest’s border and into the wastes beyond. All Tiso needed to see was the few inches in front of his face, and the only object he needed was the compass, as it pointed him toward the love of his life.

“I’m coming for you, Quirrel.” He said through the loud sounds of the dust storms. “I will save you. I promise.”

Chapter Text

“Twenty-Thousand, Nine Hundred Thirty Six drops of dew on the wall! Twenty-Thousand, Nine Hundred Thirty Six drops of dew! Take one day, pass it around, Twenty-Thousand, Nine Hundred Thirty Five drops of dew on the wall! Twenty-Thousand—“

“Can you two please, please just stop for a second? I’m trying to focus.” Tiso whined. It had been about a day of following the compass’s needle and Tiso was starting to get exhausted. The winds were harsh, but seemed to blow around them, so the only dangers were the dangerous terrain. And maybe whatever dangers roamed beyond the dust storm. Tiso had been lucky to never come face to face with one of the monsters within the Wastes during his first adventure. Hopefully he will be lucky again.

“Wh-what’re you focusing on? You j-just keep looking at that c-c-compass.” Myla asks. Tiso groans, momentarily putting the compass into the pocket of his cloak. Dirtmouth was so far behind them, complete darkness on all sides of them, only the blowing winds visible.

“I’m trying to focus on walking, and keeping us on a walkable trail. If not for me, you two would have surely fallen into a hole and died.” He snarls in his extremely nasally voice. It’s obviously not true, he hasn’t looked at the ground since they walked past the boundaries of Hallownest. They’re lucky they haven’t fallen into a hole yet.

“Maybe some music will help you focus?” Cloth asks, and it’s hard to tell if she’s joking or not but he really hopes she’s joking. Unfortunately for him, she’s not joking, and with a smug look at Myla they start singing again, starting at the beginning of the song again.

“One Hundred Thousand drops of dew on the wall! One Hundred Thousand drops of dew! Take one down, pass it—“

“Please! For the love of all the gods still out there, please don’t sing!” Tiso whines, maybe a bit too loudly. Suddenly the wind stops, and then it picks up hard, blowing so roughly that it sweeps Tiso right off of his feet. He’s lucky that Cloth is right behind him and manages to catch him and Myla, before falling forward and grounding the three of them. Tiso held his hood to his head as best as he could, and thankfully after a few seconds the wind stopped. What they saw when they got off of the ground, though, paralyzed them.

The dust no longer blew and they could see most of the sky clearly. A gargantuan serpent-like creature with wings the size of Dirtmouth and thousands of eyes lining its body flew above them. On its back were valves of some sort, which opened and closed, pulling in air before pushing out smoke. Hundreds of tiny beasts flew around it, at least they looked tiny. It was impossible to tell due to high up it was. Tiso has no clue how long they stood there, frozen in fear, but after what felt like hours the tail of the flying beast, which was marked with a long thin fin, went over a nearby mountain, disappearing.

“H-holy moly…” Myla squeaked.

For the first time in a while Tiso realizes he might have bit off more than anyone could have chewed.